Did Chandrababu Naidu Ask Modi At Least One Thing For AP?

Kommineni Srinivasa Rao

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led to several interesting analyses. Following his meeting, Chandrababu spent a lot of time dwelling on everything that he sought from the Centre. Stranger still, he went back to the story of bifurcation and that injustice had been done to AP, that the state had now been reduced to a wingless bird. He harped on revenue losses and such topics.

Chandrababu claimed, just once at that, that the PM responded positively and agreed to fulfill promises made at the time of bifurcation of the state. He later added that the Centre and the state (AP) needed to sit down to sort out all issues relating to assurances made at the time of the division of the state. Finally, he said that if the Centre did not do justice to Andhra Pradesh with respect to promises made at the time of bifurcation, the state would have no option but to go to court.

Why did Chandrababu Naidu even mention the word 'court'? If the Prime Minister had in reality responded favourably, why would Chandrababu be inclined to think of a legal option? Some analysts have said that Chandrababu Naidu did not appear very upbeat after his meeting with the PM.

It is equally astonishing that the PM did not say anything after his interaction with the AP Chief Minister. Media houses which are close to Chandrababu have reported that he told the PM how hard he was working at his age.

Opposition MPs from the Congress are unable to criticise the Prime Minister and were described by Chandrababu Naidu as duds. How did he become so lame when it came to speaking about AP? Or could it be media reports to this effect are meant to evoke sympathy for Chandrababu? Or was it a leak from TDP?

Chandrababu Naidu asked for 58,000 crore rupees for the Polavaram project. All these days Chandrababu Naidu masqueraded as the driving force behind Polavaram and then now he has been talking of a gravity-fed water system. Is he trying to deflect the responsibility on to the Centre? BJP leaders have already complained to the Union government that Chandrababu is spending the money he is getting from the Centre on publicity programmes.

If Andhra Pradesh has been reduced to a wingless bird, why is it that in Janmabhoomi meetings the Chief Minister claims that the state is ahead of all other states in every field of activity and that it finds itself on the world map in many areas. What does Chandrababu think he would gain by saying one thing in Delhi and something to the contrary in his own state? Importantly, if AP is a wingless bird, how are its leaders able to fly about at public expense in chartered flights?

How can Chandrababu talk of loan waivers, Sankranti kanukalu or special gifts for the festival, pushkarams and several other such programmes which involve expenditure of crores of rupees? Where is the truth then? If, as the CM and his ministers are claiming, the AP government has spent Rs.24,000 crores on loan waivers, that itself is a sure indicator that the state is economically stable. If it isn't true, then it would amount to cheating the people of the state.

According to the election manifesto, Rs. 89,000 crores should have been spent on loan waivers. How did Chandrababu Naidu make such unrealistic promises when there were no resources? How are TDP leaders able to claim that these promises have been fulfilled? When it was clearly the Centre's responsibility to complete the Polavaram project, why did Chandrababu Naidu take it up? Why is he now criticizing the Centre for not releasing adequate funds?

If Chandrababu and KCR have to sit down and thrash things out among themselves, who is stopping them? Having met Modi after nearly an year and a half, Chandrababu should logically have sounded more enthusiastic, but that is not the case. The opposition has been criticising him on this and has maintained that more than problems of bifurcation, Chandrababu Naidu appears to have discussed the issue of including more constituencies to accommodate defector MLAs bought over by the TDP spending crores of rupees.

One thing is for sure--whether Chandrababu Naidu claims that AP is in deep economic trouble, or that neighbouring Telangana is very prosperous, neither statement is true. AP is not facing an economic crisis. Chandrababu, through his actions and flawed policies, is creating an economic crisis. Had Telangana been really that prosperous, why would it be in debt to the tune of one lakh crore rupees? Normally, we tend to believe governments assuming that they speak only the truth, but these days politicians and chief ministers seem to be economizing with facts.

One wonders whether Chandrababu Naidu asked PM Modi for anything at all! Did he muster the courage to ask the Prime Minister why he granted him an appointment after sixteen agonisingly humiliating, long months? Self-respect is a touchy topic indeed, but then, how can one ignore it?